Your Life, Your Purpose

How can you tell if you're not living in your true purpose? Do you recognize when you are aligned with your purpose? Understanding this is crucial. In this show, Dr. Ray will explain how to find peace, satisfaction, and fulfillment by embracing your true calling. This journey is important because it aligns with God's will for you and ultimately gives your life the most meaning. 

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."  

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Show host bio - 

Dr. Ray Self founded Spirit Wind Ministries Inc. and the International College of Ministry. He holds a Doctorate in Christian Psychology and a Doctorate in Theology. He currently resides in Winter Park, Florida. He is married to Dr. Christie Self and has three sons and a daughter. 

Transcript

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Hello, welcome to Self Talk with me, Dr. Ray Self, the show that empowers you with the Holy Spirit and gives you the ability to overcome every scheme of the enemy so you can enter your promised land. Today, you're going to get a new strategy for success in your life.

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Hey, welcome to Self Talk. I'm your host, me Dr. Ray Self. That's how I got the name Self Talk. Pretty clever, huh? Thank you for being a part of the show. This is my 273rd episode. Can you believe it? Thank you very, very much for being a part of it. Can't wait to get into today's topic. It's an important one for you and for me. The show is sponsored by, or brought to you by, the ministry I founded, the International College of Ministry. We're enrolling every day. Also have free stuff, free lessons, at icmcollege.org. We appreciate you being a part of the show. Let's get ready.

Heavenly Father, thank you for everyone listening to today's show. I pray that my words will be true, led by the Holy Spirit, and a blessing to everyone who is a part of this. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen. So, there's a very familiar scripture that we've all heard probably a thousand times if you're a Christian and been around church for a very long time. And that comes from Jeremiah. And in Jeremiah chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, “Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you and I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’” Now, that is God talking to Jeremiah. But the principle here is life-changing because God is telling Jeremiah, "Hey, I knew you before you were born. I had a purpose for your life before you were even in the womb of your mother.” Since God is timeless and eternal, He can do things like this. I believe, and most other scholars believe - that I know of - that this call of God before you were born is for everyone. That everyone is created for a reason and a purpose. The opposite side of that would be that life is meaningless and life has no purpose. We're just here to live and die. But you know what? That's not the truth. The truth is God has a call and a purpose for your life. 

And I know you've heard that term so many times. It sounds like a, a cliché, but don't let it be a cliché. Your call, your purpose, the anointing, what you were made to do, is important not only for you, your fulfillment, your satisfaction, your contentment, but it's also important for God's work here on earth. It's important for other people. And I've told my story a number of times, but just to kind of talk about my story just a little bit, I wrote a good book. Matter of fact, please check out the book, Redeeming Your Past and Find Your Promised Land. It's, it's my story, but it's also explains in detail how to fulfill what I'm talking about today.

So, I was raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and, um, you know, went to college, high school and college. And when I was in college, I had a lot of interests, a lot of things I was curious about. But my parents kept talking about, "Son, you need to be a business major because, um, business is where it's at. You need to study business and go into sales because sales is where the money's at." Well…and I ended up doing that to please my parents. But you see, it was not my purpose. It was not my call, but I wanted to fulfill my parents' wishes. And so, I did what they asked. I became a business management major. Got out of college and went into various types of business. I worked in retail business. I worked in wholesale business. I worked for, uh, my, uh, corporation. I worked for Frigid Air Corporation as a district manager. I ended up owning my own retail store. Then I owned a software firm. And I did a lot of things in business to make money. The problem was the whole time I'm working in business all these years, something was never quite right.

And maybe you can identify with this, but something was just off. So being a, just a typical, you know, American guy, I kept thinking, well, if I work harder and get some more success, become more successful, make more money, maybe get a promotion, then I'm going to find the peace. And I was looking for satisfaction and contentment and fulfillment that I thought money would bring and success in the business world would bring, which is the message of the world. The problem was, no matter how hard I worked or how hard I strived, I never found that peace. It was just constantly evading me. And I worked for years trying to find that peace, that satisfaction. And, and I think a lot of people are in that same place. You know, we're working. We're trying to pay our bills. We're trying to, because we have to have the money to pay the mortgage, to pay the car notes. And so we, we strive, and we strive, and we strive, but something is just not right. 

I used to say, remember the old Fisher-Price toys we had as a kid? You'd put the, the round peg in the round hole and the triangular-shaped piece in the triangular hole. Well, there's an expression that says it's like putting a square peg in a round hole, which means you can make a square peg go into a round hole, but it doesn't fit naturally. It has to be forced to fit. And that was a story of my life. I had to force things to get it to fit. And I went about this for a long time until one day, it was in my mid 40s. I, uh, was driving down the road on a two-lane highway in North Mississippi, and I was going to check on a business. And as I'm driving down the road, I heard an audible voice. It was like God was sitting next to me in the car. Actually, it was a little pickup truck. And the voice said, "Ray, I've called you into the ministry." Now, here I was, a businessman. I, at that time, I owned several businesses. I'm going to check on my businesses. And the Lord said, "Ray, I've called you into the ministry." It was loud. It was perfectly clear. It scared me. But I knew, I knew, I knew that it was God. It came out of nowhere. It was nothing I was thinking about. It was nothing I had planned. It shook me to the core. But I knew in my spirit that God was talking to me, and it changed my life forever. And things began to evolve into that because it was actually what God was saying was, "Son, it's enough. You've been doing this too long. This is not what I created you to do. I've called you to something different, and I want you to answer the call.”

Things began to change in my life from then– that day forward. I was called, created by God to do ministry. Specifically, as, as time went on and through a lot of confirmations, a lot of divine appointments, I was called to minister prophetically and to be a teacher. And at one point, I was to be a pastor. You know, something interesting about when God's called you. He confirms your call over and over and over again. It's not like He– there's just this one message, and all of a sudden you know what you're created to do. God messages you, gives you His voice, His leading your whole life. There was evidence of the call of God on my life ever since I was born. I was created to minister uh, prophetically th– under the anointing and to, to teach, um, and to, to, to be a minister of the gospel. That's what I was called to do. And when I'm doing that,, and even, even this podcast, it's a ministry. It feels normal to me. It feels natural to me. It feels like this is who I am. You see, when you're doing what God created you to do, it fits you like a glove. It, it, you, you become alive. You become exuberant. It becomes who you are. Now, not everybody's called to be ministers. Well, the Bible says we're all ministers of reconciliation. But God can create you to be a great– a real estate agent for His glory, a, a businessman, a businesswoman, to, to be a carpenter, a plumber, a, a teacher. Uh, and there's seasons where your call of God is just to maybe be at home with the family. But whatever it is, when you answer the call and you move into what God's created you to do, things begin to change in your life. 

There is a sense of fulfillment. There's a sense of getting up out of bed in the morning. Instead of going, "Oh, I got to get ready. I got to go to work." You get up, and you go, "Yeah, it's another day. This is the day the Lord has made. I shall rejoice and be glad in it." Your purpose, your call. You were born for a reason. Now, I used to think it's just one specific thing. But I often began to realize over the years that the calling can be modified and changed and because of seasons in your life, because the seasons change in your life. Young married couple, uh, older retired couple, uh,, college student. Seasons change, but God has created you for a purpose. Your purpose will bring you peace, the fulfillment you've been looking for. Also, when you're in your purpose, there'll be, there'll be financial provision. God will provide for you financially. He, He, He, you know, when God calls it, He provides for it. There is peace. There's fulfillment. And critically, your call, your purpose helps those around you. It's always for unselfish reasons. You know, my call has been able to - I mean, this is all about God - to impact a lot of people over the years at churches and through the ministry, through the online ministry. Right now, we have hundreds of students online. Some of these students are pastors. As I'm training and teaching them online, they're going back to their churches and their communities. 

So, the impact has been huge. If I had not answered this call of God when He called me driving down that road, thousands of people would have missed what God was trying to do through me. God, not me, trying to do through me. Your purpose and your call, whatever it is, is important. It, it's going to make you feel alive. It's going to make you feel, um, a content– a sense of contentment, a sense of fulfillment. There'll be provision there. It's going to benefit your family. It's going to benefit those around you. And so, it's important to find it. Jeremiah said, God told Jeremiah, "I had a purpose for you before you were born." Now, here it is. Well, Jane, Mike, Mary, whatever your name is, God had a purpose for you before you were born, and here it is.

Now, Satan is extremely evil and conniving. You know, it's an understatement, obviously. So what he does is, he picks up on this somehow, someway, and he will do his best to distract you, to tempt you, to hurt you, to block you, to give you obstacles to keep you out of this call. You see, Satan does not attack God directly. He attacks God indirectly. And the way Satan attacks God is he attacks God's people and keeps them away from doing work for God, doing what God created them to do. When you're doing what God created you to do, there's a divine purpose for it. It could be as a business person, could be as a professional, whatever it is, there's a divine reason for it, and it does somehow benefit the kingdom of God. Satan knows this, and so he will attack you. Unfortunately, so many people with a– tremendous calls of God on their life and anointings, uh,, that they go through a lot of abuse and betrayal and neglect and all kinds of stuff. With me, I had some abuse in my life. But my biggest problem was I got distracted and went into business as a businessman that I was not called to do. Um, and I was never happy until I finally answered the call of God on my life, which was ministry. God had been trying to tell me about my call my entire life. And He's trying to tell you and trying to show you your call your entire life. It's not something He's trying to hide from you. There are, there's evidence of what you're called to do your entire life.

So, you know, ask yourself, what are you doing when you feel most alive? What are you doing when it just feels like, you know, this is me? Now, it may not be the exact…um…call, but it's something similar to your call, and it just feels, feels right. I love the story of, um, who is the writer that, uh, wrote so many books on leadership? I forgot his name. And he was a prolific writer. I think this man has written over 40 books. And he told the story of how, when he was a kid, his father wanted to teach him car mechanics. And so his dad would put him under a car to pull a transmission to work on the transmission. And he remembered as a kid that - I think it's John Maxwell, maybe - that as a kid he could not wait to finish working on that car so he could get to the library because he loved the library and he loved being around books. You see, he was called as an author, and there is evidence of that because of his passion and his love for the library.

God has put a passion and a love for something in your heart that never leaves you. See, the thing about the call of God on your life is it never leaves you alone. Uh, it's like the phone rings 24  hours a day until you pick it up. It's always there. I don't care how old you are or how young you are, the call of God is there. It's critical that you find it. What is it that you do naturally? What is it that you are gifted at? What brings you the most joy and satisfaction? Now, here's the little tricky part. There can be a lot of things that you do that you really enjoy but may not be call of God on your life. Now, God's not saying, "Well, you have to do this 24 hours a day. There's nothing else you can do that's fun." He's not saying that. But there is a primary purpose for your life. Matter of fact, if you're married, there's also a purpose for your marriage, which is a whole nother topic. It's critical that you find it. What do you do well? What, what makes you feel at peace? Maybe…and this is another good one: Ask your friends. Say, "Hey, what, what am I doing when I seem to be most alive?" Have you noticed anything about me? Sometimes your friends can see your gifting and your talent better than you can. 

You know, it's one thing, um, talking about young people that drives me crazy is asking a young person, an 18-year-old, “What, what is it you want to do?” See, that's a really bad question. “What do you want to do?” You see, when you're young, you want to do a lot of things, but most of the time, what young people want to do is not coming from God; it's coming from their flesh. It's what they want to do naturally. You see, and then they end up in an unfulfilling, dissatisfied life. When your desire, as a young person - or even older person - when your desire lines up with God's call, there's where things begin to explode. There's when the fulfillment comes, the happiness comes, the peace comes, um, the fruit comes. When your desire equals the call of God on your life. So, what I like to ask young people is, “Well, I'm not going to ask you what it is you want to do. I want to ask you another question. What is it God has created you to do? What do you– Why do you think you were born? What has God called you to do? What is your purpose in life? Do you know that? If you don't, let's pray for the Lord to show it to you.” You know, in my book, I talk a lot about the promised land. I believe we all have a promised land. The promised land is the place you're created to be, doing what you're created to do. And I believe that Satan wants to keep you out of that promised land. But you see, God wants you in there. And so, when you commit to it, and you do your spiritual warfare, and you do not, you know, you persevere, you will get into your promised land. God never told the Israelites, "Hey, this is going to be easy for you. You'll have to fight." But He told them, if you fight, you'll get a victory. And the same applies to you.

Find your promised land. Find your purpose. Find your call is so…and I don't care if you're 80 years old or 20 years old. I do care, obviously, about you, but the call is still there. It's where you will find that purpose, your, your contentment, your peace, your joy. And when you're in your call, it's going to benefit a lot of people other than you. Know that Satan schemes against you to keep you from your call. Be aware of that. Paul said, "Do not be ignorant of Satan's schemes." In the book of, um, uh, Corinthians, he also said in Ephesians, "Put on the full armor of God to stand firm against the schemes of the enemy.” Satan will scheme against you to keep you from your purpose. But when you fight, and you say, "No, the blood of Jesus covers me. I rebuke every scheme of God against my life. I'm going to fulfill my purpose. Lord, show it to me. Lord, make it clear to me. Lord, forgive me for doing– being so distracted. Make my purpose clear. I rebuke every scheme of the enemy,” you will find it. You will find your purpose. Do you, do– I hope you understand that. So, so, so important. This podcast is, is a big topic. It's a passionate topic about me. 

If you want, uh, more information, a really cool way to help find your purpose is to take the motivational gift test that I have. Um, many times your motivational gift is a tremendous key to your purpose. If you'd like a copy of the motivational gift test that I have, um, email me at drray, d r r a y s e l f, drrayself@gmail.com, and I'll be happy to send you a copy. Thank you for listening to today's show. Heavenly Father, I thank you for everyone being a part of this show, that Lord, reveal your purpose and your call to everyone who's, who's searching, who's looking, who may be confused. Speak clearly, Father, and we know what it is we're called to do. And Lord, I know it's never too late to answer the call of God on our life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Again, thank you, folks, for being a part of the show. I cannot do it without you. The show's been doing a lot better. Please download the show, share the show with as many people as you can. Subscribe, do the things that help us reach more people. I appreciate that. If you'd love to– if you'd like to donate, that'd be fantastic. That would really help me with this. It's uh, there's a link at icmcollege.org/donate. icmcollege.org/donate. And we are 501c3. Everything is tax-deductible. I appreciate you for being a part of Self Talk. God bless you, and um, just thank you for listening. This will be out every Thursday morning, it comes out. Thanks again. God bless you.

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Thank you so much for listening to today's show. I appreciate you very, very much. Don't forget, go to our website for the show. The easiest way to get to it is at icmcollege.org/selftalk. There you can access any of our previous over 200 episodes. You can like, you can subscribe, you can get on our email list. Don't forget to share it with your friends. Again, thank you for being a part of Self Talk. God bless you.